U.S. fiscal policy
Subtitle: its effects at home and abroad
By: John H. Makin.
Series: AEI studies ;; 447
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Published: 1986
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 54
Subjects: Fiscal policy -- United States.; Budget deficits -- United States.; Foreign exchange -- United States.
Other titles: US fiscal policy.
Description: Would reducing the federal budget deficit improve the trade balance? Does a move toward fixed exchange rates make sense when efforts to control budget deficits are under way? Can the United States conduct tax and budget policy without paying attention to its implications for the rest of the world? In two essays, John Makin traces the unusual path of U.S. fiscal policy in the first half of the 1980s. He finds lessons helpful to businesses and policymakers as the world economy becomes more interdependent and the international competition more intense. His major conclusion is that fiscal policy is a more potent countercyclival tool than monetary policy under flexible exchange rates. Stabilizing exchange rates would therefore require active coordination of fiscal policies as well as monetary coordination.
Notes: Includes bibliographies.